Dear Colleague,
We are pleased to announce an upcoming meeting in phyllosphere
microbiology. The 7th International Symposium on the Microbiology of the
Aerial Plant Surfaces will be held in Berkeley, California, from August
3-8 2000. The conference center, located in the foothills of Berkeley,
is an inexpensive yet pleasant setting for formal meetings and informal
discussion. The conference site is also close to many interesting
cultural and natural attractions in the San Francisco area and elsewhere
in California. Hopefully, this interdisciplinary meeting will be of
interest to you; please contact us as indicated below if you would like
to be notified of further announcements.
For more complete information and pre-registration form, please visit
us at http://nature.berkeley.edu/P2000
MEETING DESCRIPTION
This international conference will address the ecological role of the
diverse microbiota of aerial plant surfaces, a microbiota which can
include plant, animal, and even human pathogens, as well as
microorganisms important in ecosystem processes. Basic aspects of
microbial ecology such as gene exchange, habitat modification, and
interactions of microbes with the hosts on which they live are often
best examined in this system. An understanding of the interactions that
occur among phyllosphere microbes and between these microbes and their
host plants is essential for the development of rational strategies to
manipulate these communities in ways that are beneficial to agriculture
and other managed ecosystems. This conference will bring together
researchers from the plant and the microbial side and will include the
areas of plant pathology, mycology, bacteriology, aerobiology,
micro-meteorology, biological control, plant physiology, biochemistry,
anatomy, and microbial and plant molecular biology. The scientific
program will include invited speakers, posters, and oral presentations
to be chosen from submitted abstracts as well as round-table discussions
to stimulate interactions. At least partial support to enable graduate
students and others who would otherwise be unable to attend should be
available.
A web site with conference details and registration information is
available on line at http://nature.berkeley.edu/P2000 or contact Steven
Lindow, University of California, Department of Plant and Microbial
Biology, 111 Koshland Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3102. Phone:
510/642-4174, Fax: 510/642-4995, Email icelab at socrates.berkeley.edu
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM
 Session I : Leaf surface habitat description and visualizing organisms
in situ
Dr. T. Whitham (Northern Arizona University - Flagstaff)
The leaf as an Island Resource
Dr Gwyn Beattie (Iowa State University)
Leaf surface waxes and the process of colonization of leaves by
bacteria
Dr. George Sundin (Texas A&M University)
Ultraviolet radiation on leaves: its influence on microbial
communites and their adaptations
Dr. Wendy Mechaber (University of Arizona)
Mapping uncharted territory: Nanoscale leaf surface topography
Dr. John Andrews (University of Wisconsin)
Adhesion of yeasts to plant surfaces
 Session II : Description of leaf surface communities: autecology and
synecology
Dr. Robert McLean (SW Texas State University)
The adaptive significance of microbial biofilms
Dr. Cindy Morris (INRA, Avignon, France)
Microbial biofilms on leaf surfaces
Dr. Oliver Pruvost (Phytopathologie, Reunion, France)
Population structure of Xanthomonads with endophytic and
epiphytic phases
Dr. Mark Bailey (Oxford University)
Population dynamics, gene exchange and gene expression of
bacteria in the phyllosphere
Dr. Hey Leung (International Rice Research Institute)
Population genetics of Xanthomonas oryzae on rice
Dr. R. Belanger (University of Laval, Quebec, Canada)
Ecological process occurring in leaf surface fungi
 Session III : Microbial interactions on the leaf surface
Dr. Chris Upper (University of Wisconsin)
Significance of insects as vectors of bacteria to the leaf
surface
Dr. Susan Hirano (University of Wisconsin)
Relationship between bacterial genes determining virulence and
epiphytic fitness
Dr. Martin Romantschuk (University of Helsinki)
Adhesion to leaves as an epiphytic fitness determinant
Dr. Charles Manceau (INRA, Angers, France)
Endophytic vs epiphytic colonization of plants - what comes
first?
Dr. Steffan Kjelleberg (Univ. of New South Wales, Australia)
Interference with quorum sensing of bacterial colonists of
plants
Dr. J. C. Polacco (University of Missouri)
Methylobacterium endophytes in plants
 Session IV : Biocontrol, biotechnology and applied microbiology
Dr. Virginia Stockwell (Oregon State University)
Microbiology of deciduous fruit flowers and the biological
control of disease
Dr. Trevor Suslow (University of California - Davis)
Colonization of plants by human pathogens - approaches to food
safety
 Session V : Modelling, theory and quantification in phyllosphere
microbiology
Dr. Linda Kinkel (University of Minnesota)
Modelling interactions between phylloplane microorganisms
Dr. Don Aylor (Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station)
Aerobiology of fungi in relation to capture and release by
plants
Dr. John Zak (Texas Tech - Lubbock)
Implications of a leaf surface habitat for fungal community
structure and function
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Steven Lindow
University of California - Berkeley
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
111 Koshland Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-3102.
Phone: 510/642-4174
Fax: 510/642-4995
Email: icelab at socrates.berkeley.edu
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